COVID Part Deux

COVID Part Deux

We’ve all seen the charts and are probably all equally scared by what we see. The comparison of the curves showing pandemic infections for the United States and the European Union tell the story of the failure of the United States to combat this pandemic effectively. It shows very similar initial rise of the infections in both regions with the U.S. just a few weeks behind Europe. That is where the similarities end. The EU infections curve flattens out and continuously falls over time. The US infections curve starts to fall after the initial peak and then it starts ticking up and is now back to the levels or higher of the initial spike in infections. We are hearing reports out of places like Tulsa, Houston and Phoenix that tried to push the reopening envelope early given their false assumptions that they were not being hit the same way the Northeastern states had been hit. And now here we are with ICU beds fully utilized and deaths rising in the absence of effective leadership in the country to abide by the safety precautions being strongly recommended by the best scientists and physicians in the world. We have no vaccines yet (as expected by most objective and informed medical professionals) and we even seem to have few treatment prophylactics now that Hydroxychloroquine has been completely debunked and delegitimized. The amount we still don’t know about this deadly virus is the scariest part of this story.

In the early days of this pandemic and concomitant lockdown, I felt guilty escaping to the West while New York City, where my children, grandchildren and friends live. It felt like we were abandoning everyone though we certainly felt lucky to have timed our move the way we had. We did get the wake-up call on our little hilltop when the neighbor to the north died unexpectedly one night in March and tested positive for COVID-19. But for the most part, there was a somewhat more casual approach to social distancing out here. Kim and I took it all very seriously and limited our forays outside the home and only had people over in twos and fours for outdoor dinners with proper use of masks and social distancing. In general, we have been serious about staying safe and helping others in our community stay safe. It is clear to see that when I put on a mask before approaching someone, they feel the need to do likewise. I suspect they might not if I didn’t.

Now things have changed, as New York, under the leadership of Governor Andrew Cuomo, looks to be winning the war through tight adherence to scientifically indicated policies. The Southern and Western states that never seemed to take this all very seriously and have tried to rush their reopening, following the misleading governance of Donald Trump that all would be well as the summer would bring an ebbing of the virus. Not even close. Today we reached a new peak in infections due to the numbers going off the charts in those twenty-two states that thought they were immune. Most are states that are notable in their redness politically, but California, which took the pandemic much more seriously than many of those states is also suffering a surge in infections.

Today, all three of my kids called and told me that they hoped we are being extra careful. The worrying is on the other foot suddenly. It feels like the traffic and the daily commercial flow out here is mostly back to normal, which means that people are simply not any longer taking the social distancing protocols are strictly as they were in April and May. Governor Newsom has made mask wearing mandatory, but this becomes like mandatory motorcycle helmets. How you wear it is as important as the simple fact that you are complying with the letter of the law. I see people talking over their masks all the time where I am constantly pulling mine up so that it won’t slip off my nose. I sense that people out here simply don’t feel as threatened by the virus and I am wondering what will have to happen for that to change. I am also seeing the more vocal Trump followers getting rabidly belligerent about the impingement on their way of life by being required to do things like wear masks or stand six feet apart in line. Crazy and oblivious to the world around them.

And here’s the thing, this isn’t even yet the Fall surge that has been scientifically predicted. This is perhaps best called a follow-up wave of the initial infections that have finally found there way through our less urban or central parts of the country. The numbers putting the US is horrible light on this medical battleground are impossible to refute. The percentages are devastatingly bad and telling that the supposedly most developed country in the world, the country that has historically led the way in solving difficult medical problems like this, is now in sub-basement A with the rats.

I will show my strong bias here again and say that the difference between us liberals and the bulk of the conservatives I see out there is that when I see Trump risking infection amongst his loyalists (and then on to the rest of us) by holding rallies and breaking all the medical norms being advised, rather than saying good riddance, I find myself horrified that he would put ANY human beings at risk like that through his egotistical ranting and his fundamental lack of good leadership. I do not think the reverse feeling would be the case if it were liberals or Democrats being put at risk. I believe it is one of the defining characteristics of the two groups that tends to give a natural edge in nature to the conservatives, but I believe actually does give moral superiority to our team. If that doesn’t flush out a few comments, I don’t know what will.

While we are planning a socially distant road trip to the north woods of California (the Redwoods) and Oregon (Columbia Gorge and Crater Lake), I suspect that most of our 2020 will be spent hunkering down at home since I feel that COVID is unfortunately a way of life for us all for some time yet. I vow to not lose sight of it and the importance of putting humanity ahead of economics. Recent studies show that wealthier people are spending less and thus saving more, while less prosperous members of society are both suffering the most (unemployment) and not able to save more since most of their earnings are not disposable, but spent on necessities. I fully understand that an ailing economy hurts the most needy the most, but we as a society and as a nation have the ability to address those wounds with subsidies. Once a person gets so sick with COVID that they die, there is no fix for that.

I do not understand how Trump supporters can say that Trump has done anything but fail miserably in this crisis. The world has certainly concluded that and pretty soon, no matter how much Trump likes to toss out nonsense like calling it the “Kung Flu”, the world is going to treat us like medical pariahs. We are creating a leper colony of ourselves and the EU is only the first of what may be many areas considering just telling us to stay home rather than bring our tourist dollars and Coronavirus. As we enter COVID Part Deux maybe we will take this a bit more seriously and do ourselves a favor for once in this cycle.